Vehicle door upholstery cover



1951 R. w. KLINGENSMITH 2,539,956

VEHICLE DOOR UPHOLSTERY COVER Filed March 24, 1948 Robert W.K/ingensmi/h INVENTOR.

Patented Jan. 30, 1951 UNITED T ES NT OFFICE"? Robert Klingen smith,Jeannette, Pa.

ApplicationMarch 24, 1948, Serial No. 16,713

lClaim. (c1.45" 13s) invention relates to new and useful im- 2'provements and structural refinements in covers for upholstery on doorsof automobiles and similar vehicles, and the principal object of theinvention is to prevent such upholstery from becoming soiled or damagedwhile various materials or persons with soiled clothes are beingtransported.

This object is achieved by the provisionof a protecting cover which maybe quickly and easily applied to or removed from the door upholsterypanel, so that the latter may be effectively covered thereby andprotected from possible damage.

An important feature of the invention resides in the provision of a doorupholstery cover which is removably retained in position on the door byresilient clips, the latter being readily removable in order tofacilitate separation of the cover from the door panel.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a doorupholstery cover which includes resilient bands for retaining the coverin a tightly stretched position after it is applied to the door.

An additional feature of the invention resides in the provision of acover of the class described which is simple in construction, which willreadily lend itself to economical manufacture and which is otherwisewell adapted for the purpose for which it is intended.

With the above more important objects and features in view and suchother objects and features as may become apparent as this specificationproceeds, the invention consists essentially of the arrangement andconstruction of parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Figure 1 is an inside elevational view of a vehicle door, showing theinvention in situ thereon;

Figure 2 is a cross sectional View, taken substantially in the plane ofthe line 22 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view, taken substantially in the plane ofthe line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the resilient retaining clipsused in the invention; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of another resilient clip used therein.

Like characters of reference are employed to designate like parts in thespecification and throughout the several views.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detailthe referencecharacter I 0 designates a vehicle door equipped on the 1.11116 surface[2 2 3: thereof with a cardboard panel Mupholsteredtas at H; in theconventional, well known manner. The invention resides in the provisionof a pros tecting cover designated; generally by the refer encecharacter 18, the same embodying in its construction a sheet of flexiblematerial 20 (such as for example, fabric, plastic, or the like) whichsheet assumes the substantial configuration of the upholstered panel l4,[6, as shown.

Means are provided for retaining the cover l8 on the door Ill, saidmeans including a plurality of transversely extending, resilient bands22 which are secured in any suitable manner to the inner surface of thesheet 20 and are provided at the ends thereof with pairs of resilientretaining clips 24.

Each of the clips 24 simply assumes the form of a strip of resilientmaterial which is doubled upon itself to provide a relatively long arm26 and a relatively short arm 28, the closed end or doubled end portionof the strip being formed with a transverse slot 30 through which an endportion of the resilient band 22 may be passed, doubled and secured toitself .as indicated at 3 I, It will be apparent that in this manner theclips 24 are firmly attached to the end portions of the bands 22, andwhen the sheet 2!] is to be applied to the upholstered panel M, [6, theinturned arms 26 of the clips are simply inserted between the innersurface l2 of the door In and the panel M, as is best shown in Figure 3.If desired, the arms 28 of the clips 24 may be outwardly angulated as at32, so as to assist the application of the clips to the upholsteredpanel l4, l6.

It is to be noted that when the protecting cover is so applied to theupholstered panel, the resilient bands 22 will retain the cover in atightly stretched position, and if deemed necessary, supplementaryretaining clips 34 may be applied to the edge portions of the sheet as,so as to prevent the edge portions of the sheet from becoming separatedfrom the upholstered panel.

The clips 34 are substantially similar to the aforementioned clips 24with the exception that they are not provided with the slot 30, the arms36 of the clips 34 being insertable between the upholstered panel andthe door, while the relatively short arms 38 of the clips bear againstthe outer surface 4!) of the sheet 20, as will be clearly apparent.

Needless to say, suitable openings 42 may be formed in the sheet 2!! toaccommodate inside doorhandles and window regulator handles 44, 46,;respectively, such as are usually provided on the door l0. and in theevent that the door is. also equipped with arm rests (not shown),additional openings may be formed in the sheet 20 to accommodatethesame.

It is believed that the advantages and use of the invention will beclearly apparent from the foregoing, disclosure and, accordingly,further description thereof at this point is deemed unnecessary. Whilein the foregoing therehas been shown and described the preferredembodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that minor changesin the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as claimed.

Having described the invention, what is ei'a'imed as new is:

Incombination with ,a vehicle door provided with an upholstery panel, aprotective cover for said Sp n'el, and means for removably retainingsaid? ver in position, said means comprising a air of eit s disposed atopposite edges of said panel and each consisting of a resilient striiphavmg "a substantially J- 'shaped configuration and including arelatively short arm, a relatively long arm, and a bight portionconnecting said arms together, said bight portion being provided with atransverse slot, the long arms of said clips being insertable betweensaid panel and the door, the short arms of the clips being disposedbetween the panel and said cover, and a resilient connecting bandpositioned between said panel and the cover and secured to the latter,the end portions of said band extending through said slots and beingfrictionally held between said short arms and said panel.

ROBERT W. KLINGENSNII'I'H.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the- 'BrucklNov. 6, 1934

